Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, President of the Portuguese Republic, today presented the Grand Cross of the Order of the Infante Don Henrique to Isidro Fainé, President of the “la Caixa” Banking Foundation, at the Belem Palace in Lisbon. The event was also attended by Artur Santos Silva, trustee of the “la Caixa” Foundation and honorary President of BPI.
Isidro Fainé receives this award in recognition of his personal commitment over decades to promote synergies between Portugal and Spain in the banking, industrial and social fields, as highlighted by the Foundation.
During the ceremony, the President of the “la Caixa” Foundation expressed his gratitude to the President of the Republic: “It is a great honor for me to receive a decoration of this importance, with such historical weight and that such illustrious personalities have received.”
Isidro Fainé has emphasized the Foundation’s commitment to the Portuguese country: “You can continue to count on my personal commitment and that of the institution I represent, to contribute as much as we can to the joint development of our countries.”
The “la Caixa” Foundation plans to invest a budget of 50 million euros in Portugal in 2023 in the development of social, educational, cultural and medical research programs that address the country’s main priorities.
At the business level, the Foundation’s commitment to Portugal is articulated through the participation of its holding company, CriteriaCaixa, in CaixaBank (owner of the Portuguese bank BPI) and in other Portuguese listed companies, such as the Sonae group.
The Order of the Infante Don Henrique is, together with the Order of Liberty, the most important civil honorary distinction of the Portuguese Republic. Within it, the Grand Cross is the second highest degree, after the Grand Collar, which only heads of state receive.
Among the non-Portuguese people who have received the Grand Cross over the years, there are figures such as the founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates; Queen Sofía; the philologist Fernando Lázaro Carreter; and the former presidents of the European Commission, Jacques Delors and Jean-Claude Juncker, among others.
